Active public discussion has begun around the project to relocate the Tashkent Pharmaceutical Institute from the city center. This was reported by Upl.uz.
Within the framework of the project, as indicated in the draft decision on developing the night economy, it is planned to build a five-star hotel and a thousand-space parking lot on the site of the institute. This proposal is being criticized by economists and urban planning specialists.
They question the appropriateness of such a decision and draw attention to deep systemic problems in urban planning. According to Urban Metrics specialist and analyst !lesaliev, many urban planning decisions are based on a superficial study of foreign experience.
This approach, ignoring local conditions, leads to the repetition of ineffective practices. For example, the idea of reducing traffic congestion by relocating higher education institutions outside the city center has been discussed many times.
Similar initiatives are based on the experience of neighboring countries. For instance, in Almaty, there was a proposal to move universities to a separate student campus, and in Baku, plans were made to relocate higher education institutions to develop small towns and solve transport problems.
However, in-depth analysis shows that these initiatives often rely on each other or on Moscow's experience. Large plans to move universities outside the MKAD in Moscow were announced more than ten years ago but have not been fully implemented.
The leading universities of the Russian capital remain in their historic locations. Experts emphasize that there is insufficient scientific evidence proving that student transportation is a primary cause of urban traffic congestion.
On the contrary, universities are economic centers that attract investments, create jobs, and form an intellectual environment, which brings significant benefits to the city. Experts are particularly concerned about the legal aspects of the project.
The area where the institute is located falls under the H1 category, which, according to urban planning norms, is a zone where new construction is prohibited. Thus, the project directly contradicts approved city development documents, including the Master Plan and General Plan.
This creates a dangerous precedent where strategic documents could be ignored for commercial interests. According to Urban Metrics and !lesaliev specialists, relocating universities will not solve the root causes of Tashkent's transport problems.
The main causes of congestion are not students but the underdeveloped public transport system, high dependence on private cars, and the lack of modern traffic management systems. Separating universities from the city is merely an attempt to eliminate a symptom, not the cause.
Higher education institutions should remain an integral part of the capital's ecosystem. Their integration into the urban environment provides students and teachers with access to research centers, laboratories, libraries, innovation clusters, and close cooperation with businesses.
Global experience shows that the world's leading universities, such as the Sorbonne in Paris or Harvard in Boston, are located in the centers of large metropolises. These cities address transport issues not by relocating educational institutions but by developing metro systems, rapid bus routes, and digital management technologies.
Instead of sacrificing Tashkent's educational infrastructure, attention should be focused on modernizing the transport system and developing complex systemic solutions characteristic of modern megacities.
